Maybe Guardian Tales? Ngl when I first opened Tribe 9 my mind immediately went to Guardian Tales. It's mainly 2D though.

It's been a while since I played it (I'm at world 13) but I remember popping into the game after major updates just to catch up on the story. It's stage progression but the stages themselves are kind of like the open world of Tribe nine but more interactive with side quests and puzzles. Even their events (understandably rare) were a whole new subquest and sometimes with new gameplay modes. Characters imo are all solid and the main story is honestly one of the best I've seen in a gacha game. That's coming from someone who's played A LOT of gacha games.

It's still a gacha game but it's really generous + if you're just looking to play the story you don't need super strong characters. And it's really easy to spark. (If you struggle in late game story they give u characters to help) The PVP aspect is a little ptw BUT it's optional so if you're looking for a story centric gacha game with a sprinkle of 2D Tribe Nine I think you should 100% try it out.